440 


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Wttatt  f  ;s$Me.$  and  f  residential 


SPEECH: 


OF     THE 


HOi  JOHN  HICKMAN, 


DELIVERED   IN 


Concert  Hall,  PMladelphia,  July  24th,  1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PLATFORM. 

. 


Published  under  the  Auspices  of  the  Republican  Central  Club  of  San  Francisco. 


SAN    FRANCISCO: 

TOWNE  &  BACON,  PRINTERS,  EXCELSIOR  OFFICE. 

Ifo   126  Clay  Street,  corner  of  Sansome. 

iseo. 


fc  4-4-0 

UL    -~ 

OFFICERS 


OF     THE 


Central  Republican  Club 

OF    S-AJXT    ZFIR-AJXTOISOO. 


President, 

WILLIAM    SHERMAN. 

Recording    Secretary, 

.  s. 


Corresponding    Secretary, 
IFl-    F- 


Treasurer, 

ETJS 

Marshal, 


Vice    Presidents, 

D.  C.  McRUER,  GEO.  C.  WALLER, 

ALEX.  CAMPBELL,  JOSEPH  WEED, 

A.  T.  LAWTON,  H.  C.  SQUIRE, 

T.  J.  L.  SMILEY,  WM.  H.  CULVER, 

HENRY  SELIGMAN,  C.  WEBB  HOWARD, 

R.  MORTON,  ANDREW  WALKER, 

WM.  IRELAND,  C.  H.  DEXTER, 

J.  REGENSBURGER,  GEORGE  AMERIGE, 

H.  J.  ROGERS,  C.  S.  HOBBS, 

N.  C.  LANE,  JOHN  SWETT, 

B.  T.  CHASE,  H.  A.  SONTAG, 

F.  G.  E.  TITTEL,  P.  W.  SHEPHEARD. 


-a  i 


SPEECH 


HON.  JOHN   HICKMAN. 


MR.  HICKMAN  said  : 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — The  intelligent  voter  will  so  shape  his  action 
as  to  make  it  conduce  to  the  success  of  a  principle,  rather  than  the  elevation  of  a 
num.  He  will  feel  this  to  be  the  more  incumbent  upon  him  at  such  a  time  as  the 
present,  when  the  tendencies  of  parties  are  more  distinctly  marked  than  in  any  pre- 
vious campaign.  It  will  be  my  object,  this  evening,  to  endeavor  to  exhibit,  in  a 
distinct  light,  the  dividing  line  between  the  political  parties  of  the  day,  and  to 
ascertain,  if  possible,  what,  in  all  probability,  would  be  the  effect,  upon  the  coun- 
try, of  the  election  of  the  respective  candidates  for  the  Presidency. 

*If  this  were  a  strife  merely  between  individual  men,  it  would  possess  but  trifling 
importance,  and  I  should  not  trouble  you  with  either  remark  or  suggestion.  But 
as  I  regard  the  contest,  the  determination  will  soon  be  made,  not  alone  as  to  our 
value  in  the  confederacy,  but  as  to  the  destiny  of  the  nation  itself. 

The  policy  of  our  Government  is,  in  many  respects,  undefined.  The  more  serious 
questions  affecting  us  have  but  recently  become  topics  of  careful  consideration. 
Our  fathers  were  unable  to  foresee,  during  the  formation  of  the  Constitution,  the 
greater  embarrassments  to  which  the  future  of  the  country  was  to  be  subjected, 
and  consequently  no  provision  was  made  against  them.  Subjects  which  distracted 
and  divided  them,  in  their  deliberations,  have  lost  much  of  their  former  consequence, 
and  we  seem  to  be  more  anxious  to  ascertain  what  they  should  have  said  further, 
than  what  they  actually  did  say.  Even  the  controversies  in  which  we  ourselves 
have  been  engaged  within  the  last  decade  have  been  settled  or  lost  sight  of,  and  we 
are  now  about  to  enter  into  that  conflict  which  is  to  define  many  of  the  most  impor- 
tant powers  of  the  Government,  and  to  fix  the  character  of  the  dominant  institu- 
tions of  the  country.  The  propriety  of  re-eligibility  to  office,  the  exact  relations 
between  federal  and  local  authority,  the  constitutionality  of  banks  and  internal 
improvements,  the  regulation  of  the  currency,  and  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  public  lands,  are  no  longer  agitated  ;  and  discussions  upon  them  are  only  to 
be  found  in  our  past  history,  and  in  the  fossil  remains  of  extinct  parties.  It  may 
in  truth  be  said,  that  old  things  have  passed  away  and  all  things  have  become  new. 

There  was  a  time,  not  very  far  back  in  the  past,  when  slavery  was  universally 
admitted  to  be  a  wrong  in  se,  unwise  in  practice,  detrimental  to  both  individuals  and 


communities,  and  against  the  spirit  and  genius  of  our  free  system.  Now,  however, 
it  is  declared  to  be  divine  in  its  origin,  the  highest  type  of  human  civilization,  and 
indispensable  to  the  maintenance  of  a  democratic  republic.  Formerly  it  was 
regarded  as  a  condition  to  be  constantly  reduced,  and  finally  to  be  extinguished. 
Now,  on  the  contrary,  the  demand  is  urged  that  it  shall  be  extended,  and  made 
controlling.  Here  I  find  the  cause  or  source  of  the  great  political  issue  of  the 
present.  Shall  slavery  become  a  national  institution  and  a  governing  power  in  the 
country,  or  shall  it  remain  as  the  Constitution  left  it?  This  is  not  an  inquiry  pro- 
pounded by  us,  of  the  North,  but  forced  upon  us  by  our  brethren  of  the  South. 
They  require  an  answer  at  our  hands,  and  we  cannot  avoid  response  if  we  would. 
Silence  upon  our  part,  under  the  circumstances,  could  not  be  construed  otherwise 
than  as  affirmative  of  their  claims.  I  make  the  distinct  avowal  that  slavery 
seeks  the  acquisition  of  all  our  new  States,  for  two  objects :  first,  to  secure  the 
value  of  slaves ;  and  second,  to  direct  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government, 

"  The  irrepressible  conflict,"  so  frequently  commented  upon  and  denounced  by  the 
South,  is  constantly  admitted  and  acted  on  by  them.  They  are  too  astute  as 
observers  and  sagacious  as  politicians  not  to  know  there  is  a  necessary  and  unend- 
ing antagonism  between  liberty  and  slavery.  If  they  thought  differently  there 
would  be  far  more  peace  and  harmony  between  the  sections.  It  is  their  full  appre- 
ciation of  the  struggle  for  the  mastery  which  arms  them  for  the  conflict,  and 
induces  them  to  wrestle  for  the  victory.  There  is  no  more  evident  fact  than  this, 
that  the  advocates  of  slavery  seek  its  extension  so  as  to  limit  the  influence  of  the 
sentiment  of  freedom.  We  hate  tyranny,  and  would  prevent  such  a  consumma- 
tion. They  ask  that  all  who  toil  shall  be  held  as  property — be  regarded,  in  the 
chaste  language  of  an  eloquent  Senator,  as  "  mud-sills."  We  believe  that  God 
created  all  men  free,  and  imposed  labor  upon  them  for  their  advantage.  Which 
hypothesis  shall  be  proven  true?  We  will  see  hereafter !  But  knowing  that  the 
principles  of  justice  are  uniform  and  eternal,  I  presume  to  believe  that  those  prin- 
ciples will  prevail  and  human  rights  be  maintained.  I  am  not  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  those  who  suppose  they  may  rightfully  make  merchandise  of  mothers  and  their 
children,  seem  to  think  they  can  shape  the  designs  of  Providence,  and  re-write  the 
history  of  humanity,  reversing  everything  our  fathers  thought,  and  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  which  they  perilled  life  and  honor.  I  must  be  pardoned  for  disagreeing 
with  them,  and  protesting  against  such  conclusions. 

The  extension  of  negro  slavery  into  the  territories  of  the  United  States  has 
become  a  settled  policy  of  the  Democratic  party.  This  reality  cannot  be  disguised, 
and  ought  not  to  be  denied.  It  is  easily  accounted  for.  Unity  of  interest  and  unity  of 
desire  will  always  produce  a  perfect  concentration  of  strength.  The  fortunes  of 
the  South  have  become  completely  identified  with  their  peculiar  domestic  relations. 
By  their  harmony  they  have  been  enabled  to  govern  the  Democratic  party,  and 
thus  far,  to  govern  the  country  through  the  agency  of  that  party.  The  vital  force 
of  that  organization  being  in  the  South,  and  slavery  propagandism  regarded  there 
as  a  necessity,  it  cannot  be  considered  strange  that  the  influence  of  the  party  should 
be  so  directed  as  to  fortify  doctrines  most  congenial  to  the  supposed  welfare  of  those 
who  direct  its  machinery.  To  many  it  has  seemed  unaccountable  that  executive 
action  and  legislative  and  judicial  proceedings  should  be  so  shaped,  from  year  to 
year,  as  to  strengthen  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  great  mass  of  our  people.  Let 
it  no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  marvel  or  a  mystery ;  the  responsibility  of  it  rests 
with  those  Northern  men  in  whom  we  have  reposed  our  confidence  and  clothed  with 
the  garments  of  authority.  Examine  the  recorded  votes  in  your  national  Congress, 
and  there  learn  why  it  is  that  Northern  capital  and  labor  are  constantly  borne 
down  by  the  enormous  weight  of  Southern  exaction.  When  your  reasonable  requests 
are  denied,  I  tell  you,  with  earnestness  and  emphasis,  it  is  because  eight  millions  of 
men  control  eighteen  millions  through  our  representatives  elected  by  a  party 
pledged  to  interests  adverse  to  ours.  Slavery  educates  its  statesmen  in  a  high  school 
under  able  professors.  It  teaches  that  the"  Northern  men  are  cowardly  and  that 


their  ambition  is  linked  with  avarice  ;  and  unfortunately  for  us,  it  has  arguments  to 
f,,r tily  its  faith.  In  half  a  century  it  may  not  be  credited  that  less  than  a  dozen 
men,  trained  under  these  circumstances,  so  alarmed  a  Pennsylvania  President  as  to 
indu-.v  hint  to  ivrivst  a  message,  violate  the  plighted  faith  upon  which  he  was  elected, 
disgrace  his  native  State,  and  degrade  the.  high  office  to  which  he  had  then  but 
recently  Urn  elevated.  And  yet,  not  only  this  has  been  done  almost  within  our 
presence,  but  the  representatives  of  free  constituencies  have  been  induced  to  lend 
their  aid  to  force  servile  labor  into  competition  with  that  of  the  white  man,  and  a 
s!a\v  State  into  the  sisterhood  of  independencies  to  throw  the  balance  of  power 
against  their  own  people.  Some  of  these  are  now  not  only  respectable  members  of 
the  Douglas  church,  but  missionaries  among  the  unbelieving  and  outside  barbarians. 
I  have  some  of  them  very  distinctly  in  my  recollection,  and  it  would  be  quite 
refreshing  to  hear  their  remarks  in  laudation  of  popular  sovereignty,  such  as  they 
denied  to  Kansas,  and  in  denunciation  of  Southern  demands,  to  which  they  suc- 
cumbul  as  reluctantly  as  a  thrice  seduced  damsel  to  her  lover.  I  believe  it  was 
Mirabeau  who  said  ••  the  presents  of  despotism  are  always  dangerous;"  he  should 
ha vi1  included,  in  his  remark,  the  threat  of  the  tyrant  as  well  as  his  reward. 

The  allegation  that  Southern  combinations  are  formed  for  the  purpose  of  coun- 
teracting opposition  extremists,  is  a  sheer  false  pretense,  resortfnl  to  as  a  blind  and  a 
cheat.  No  fears  ever  sprung  from  such  parentage.  Slavery  does  not  exist  by 
legal  enactment  anywhere ;  it  is  the  child  of  force,  and  as  the  sentiment  of  the 
world  is  against  it,  it  cannot  live  without  the  sustaining  hand  of  power.  Sur- 
rounded by  an  atmosphere  of  freedom  it  is  necessarily  unsafe,  and  statutory  safe- 
guards and  defenses  become  necessary.  Vassalage  and  subjection  never  impress 
themselves,  without  violence,  upon  the  natural  man,  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  the 
sentiment  of  freedom  must  forever  disturb  the  subjects  of  a  despotism.  The  South, 
to  be  safe,  must,  therefore,  extend  through  and  beyond  all  the  countervailing  influ- 
ences to  which  I  have  referred,  and  consequently,  our  frontier  possessions  must  be 
captured.  But  as  the  inherent  weakness  of  the  South  is  not  equal  to  this  task, 
craft  is  resorted  to  to  supply  the  needed  assistance.  Upon  whom  can  this  be  more 
advantageously  brought  to  bear  than  a  President  without  courage,  a  judge  without 
candor,  or  a  legislator  without  integrity  ?  We  are  sold  or  betrayed  hourly,  and  if 
we  had  not  more  forbearance  than  discretion  we  would  terrify  traitors.  Millions  of 
acres  of  fertile  lands,  every  now  and  then,  are  filched  from  our  industrial  classes, 
who  require  them  for  the  support  and  education  of  their  families,  to  be  turned 
into  barren  wastes,  by  those  who  have  already  blasted  more  than  one-half  of  our 
soil  as  with  an  avalanche  of  fire.  Factories  and  workshops  are  tottering  in  ruins, 
and  families  and  neighborhoods  left  starving  and  in  rags,  because  fostered  industry 
is  not  required  in  that  region  where  the  laboring  man  has  no  rights  which  the  owner 
of  men  is  bound  to  respect.  And  ships  rot  at  our  wharves,  and  storehouses  become 
but  a  rendezvous  for  idlers  and  vagrants,  for  the  reason  that  uncompensated  chattel 
sinews  yield  fruits  more  cheaply  than  compensated  skill,  and  require  no  shield  against 
the  pauper  products  of  Europe.  If  a  change  of  the  tariff  laws  were  required  by 
the  South  instead  of  the  North,  they  could  not  fail  of  its  accomplishment.  In  that 
case  the  President  would  advocate  it  with  ardor,  if  not  with  sincerity,  and  our  Sen- 
ators would  again  illustrate  the  fact  of  their  truckling  subjection  to  those  who 
secretly  abhor  their  baseness  and  infidelity.  Our  earnest  wishes  are  not  only  con- 
stantly disregarded,  but  our  prosperity  is  remorselessly  paralyzed  by  our  servants, 
without  an  audible  murmur  on  our  part ;  and  we  are  not  much  averse,  as  we  have 
often  proved,  to  conferring  new  leases  of  office  upon  such  as  deceive  us,  to  afford 
them  further  opportunities  for  mischief.  Does  this  seem  unaccountable  ?  I  suggest 
no,  in  view  of  the  truth  I  have  but  just  stated,  that  the  party  selecting  them  has  its 
heart  and  brain  in  the  South,  and  its  obeying  members,  merely,  in  the  North.  The 
remedy  for  this  shameless  evil  is  as  easy  as  it  is  simple.  We  need  but  imitate  the 
example  set  us  by  those  who  have  caused  this  condition  of  things.  Concord  and 
inflexibility  of  purpose  will  accomplish  all  we  ask.  Nothing  else  ever  can  or  ever 


6 

will.  We  might  as  well  expect  a  divided  and  discordant  army,  marshaled  under 
opposing  generals,  to  capture  the  powerful  and  thoroughly  disciplined  and  guarded 
city,  as  for  Northern  rights  and  Northern  honor  to  be  sustained  by  men  in  the  pay 
and  keeping  of  those  who  would  weaken  and  reduce  us.  In  the  ordinary  business 
of  life  we  never  trust  the  faithless  and  dishonest ;  I  can  imagine  no  reason  for 
engaging  such  as  sentinels  over  our  entire  fortunes.  Just  so  long  as  our  custom 
houses,  post  offices,  navy  yards  and  mints  shall  be  stocked  with  thousands,  selected 
virtually  by  those  who  are  in  banded  opposition  to  us,  and  whose  principal  business, 
we  are  instructed  to  believe,  is  compounding  politics  with  perfidy,  it  will  be  impos- 
sible to  render  our  condition  better  than  it  is.  These  leper-yards  must  be  cleansed. 
Their  occupants  load  the  air  with  a  contagious  corruption.  Throughout  their  bodies 
and  their  souls,  they  bear  the  marks  of  the  distemper  with  which  the  aristocratic 
pollulionist  has  touched  them.  I  risk  but  little  in  saying,  that  at  this  very  hour, 
this  mighty  phalanx,  scattered  throughout  the  eighteen  Northern  States,  having  a 
common  and  powerful  bond  of  union,  are  devising  measures  to  despoil  our  indus- 
trial classes,  by  confining  them  in  densely  crowded  fields  of  labor,  or  forcing  them 
to  enter  into  competition  and  companionship  with  ignorant  and  brutalized  bond- 
men. They  all,  yes  all,  have  been  brought  to  believe  that  the  doctrines  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  are  but  stereotyped  lies;  that  the  founders  of  the 
nation  had  but  a  sorry  conception  of  inalienable  rights ;  that  the  Constitution 
which  they  framed  was  intended  as  an  instrument  of  cruelty  and  crime  ;  and  that  the 
fairest  feature  of  free  republican  association  is  a  union  of  States  peopled  with  the 
lowest  grade  of  slaves.  Am  I  right?  What  is  the  trouble  against  which  we  have 
to  contend  ?  Is  it  not  the  steady  influence  of  what  may,  with  propriety  be  called 
political  conspiracies  to  mislead  the  public  mind,  and  taint  the  public  heart  ?  Is  it 
not  an  administration  blackened  with  treachery,  and  crooked  and  tottering  under 
the  weight  of  its  depravity,  using  all  the  patronage  of  office,  and  all  the  fascinations 
of  position  to  utterly  destroy  us,  by  making  the  territories  of  the  country  but  gar- 
risons for  the  enemies  of  freedom,  and  the  labor  of  white  men  degrading  and  fruit- 
less, beyond  the  limits  of  the  present  States  ?  If  I  am  in  error,  what  is  the  correct 
interpretation  of  the  political  discords  of  the  last  six  years  ? 

I  anticipate  fully  that  my  suggested  mode  of  redress  for  existing  abuses  will  be 
denounced  as  sectional ;  to  which  I  answer,  if  it  be  so,  the  antidote  to  a  bane 
may  be  a  bane  itself,  "  similia  similibus  curantur."  But  its  liability  to  the  charge 
is  denied.  The  real  sectionalism  is  arrayed  against  us  ;  I  do  but  counsel  systematic 
and  persistent  resistance.  In  studies  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  our  common 
charter,  and  in  the  dispensations  of  the  favors  of  government,  we  should  never  know 
a  North,  a  South,  an  East,  or  a  West.  My  complaint  is  that  others  act  as  if  they 
thought  differently.  I  trust  we  shall  always  be  able  to  command  the  exercise  of 
such  a  patriotism  and  comity  as  to  forever  preclude  us  from  aggression  upon  a  sec- 
tion inferior  to  ours  in  every  element  of  material  strength  and  greatness.  It  can 
never  be  otherwise  than  dastardly  to  press  upon  the  weak  and  sickly. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  I  have  spoken  of  the  Democratic  party  without  reference 
to  its  present  distractions.  My  reason  for  so  doing  is  found  in  the  opinion  I  enter- 
tain that  these  dissensions  do  not  affect  issues ;  as  neither  branch  indicates  a  disposi- 
tion to  meet,  fairly  and  openly,  the  great  political  problem  of  the  times.  In  casting 
our  votes  we  should  be  accurately  informed  as  to  their  effect  upon  the  policy  we 
desire  to  see  established.  We  should  not  be  made  instruments  in  the  hands  of  any 
ambitious  man,  or  in  the  hands  of  any  combination  of  reckless  and  unscrupulous 
men ;  to  force  an  unnatural  growth  of  slavery  in  the  country,  and  to  blast  the  hopes 
of  our  own  people,  contrary  to  what  has  heretofore  been  the  understanding  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  in  palpable  violation  of  what  has  been 
regarded  a  settled  national  policy.  It  should  be  a  matter  of  stinging  regret  to  us, 
if  from  our  bearing  in  the  present  contest,  we  could  be  fairly  charged  hereafter 
with  a  violation  of  the  principles  we  have  long  professed  to  cherish,  or  with  having 


imposed  any,  the  slightest,  impediment  in  the  pathway  of  a  rational,  well-grounded . 
and  progressive  liberty. 

The  all-absorbing  question  now  presented  to  the  American  citizen,  for  what  will 
prove  to  be  his  ultimate  decision,  1  have  watched  narrowly  as  it  has  risen  into 
importance  from  year  to  year,  and  I  think  I  know  the  opinions  of  the  several  Presi- 
dential candidates  respecting  it. 

I  am  not  aware  that  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Brcckenridge  attempt  any  conceal- 
ment as  to  his  designs  in  case  of  his  success.  If  they  should  desire  to  resort  to  pre- 
varication, they  have-  placed  it  entirely  without  their  power  by  the  frankness  and  bold- 
in-ss.  and  1  had  almost  said,  the  recklessness  of  their  declarations.  He  has  been  put  forth, 
prominently,  alike  in  speech  and  platform,  as  the  Achilles  of  the  armies  of  the  South, 
and  as  the  determined  foe  of  free  soil,  free  speech,  and  free  men.  He  stands  upon 
no  single  democratic  sentiment,  unless,  indeed,  what  were  regarded  by  all  statesmen 
within  the  last  fifteen  years  as  the  pretentious  heresies  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  can  be 
so  regarded.  He  so  reads  the  teachings  of  the  sages  of  the  past,  and  their  primary 
law,  as  to  make  it  fruitless  to  attempt  an  exclusion  of  his  peculiar  and  favorite 
institution  from  the  organized  territories ;  and  so  as  to  make  it  indispensable  that 
congresses,  courts,  and  presidents  should  exercise  all  their  ingenuity,  and  all  their 
powers  to  fortify  and  sustain  it  there.  Legislative  action  is  to  be  invoked,  judicial 
decrees  had,  executive  fiats  pronounced,  navies  equipped,  and  armies  marshaled,  to 
exclude  forever  every  settler  therefrom  who  will  not  bow  down  before  the  black  god 
of  his  idolatrous  worship.  I  appeal  to  you,  Freemen,  to  know  whether  this  is  the 
democracy  of  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  and  Jackson.  I  appeal  to  you  to  know 
whether  you  have  ever  found  anything  in  the  annals  of  parties  so  insulting  to  the 
understanding,  until  within  the  lifetime  of  the  youth  who  has  not  yet  reached  his 
majority.  I  appeal  to  you  to  know  whether  the  honesty,  intelligence,  and  unmixed 
blood  of  the  offspring  of  northern  mothers  can  ever  accept  an  excuse  for  those  who 
would  endeavor  to  fasten  such  a  ruler  upon  us.  But  we  may  congratulate  ourselves 
that  even  official  zeal  can  perceive  no  chance  for  Mr.  Breckenridge's  election.  If 
there  had  ever  been  any,  the  recent  stump  speech  of  Mr.  Buchanan  would  have 
effectually  disposed  of  it.  No  amount  of  popularity  would  be  able  to  stand  against 
the  encomiums  of  such  an  advocate.  His  midnight  appeal  can  only  be  accounted 
for  by  supposing  the  "  old  public  functionary  "  was  unable  to  obliterate  his  ani- 
mosities towards  "  the  young  gentleman  of  Kentucky,"  and  that  his  well-known 
craft  suggested  a  speech  as  the  readiest  and  least  offensive  means  of  destruction. 
Such  suggestions  are  the  more  reasonable  as  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  the  gyved 
tenant  of  the  White  House  should  for  a  moment  believe,  after  the  investigations 
which  have  been  had,  and  the  exposures  which  have  been  made,  such  testimony  as 
he  volunteered  could  be  otherwise  than  ruinous  to  any  cause.  The  daring  evinced 
by  him  on  the  occasion,  was  only  equalled  by  his  lack  of  self-respect,  and  his  utter 
disregard  of  the  circumstances  by  which  he  was  surrounded,  and  which  should  have 
restrained  him. 

Whatever  conclusions  may  be  drawn  as  to  my  estimate  of  Mr.  Breckenridge's 
character  as  a  politician,  I  can  only  say  that  my  esteem  for  him  is  profound  when 
brought  into  comparison  with  that  which  I  entertain  for  his  democratic  competitor. 
There  arc  few,  if  any,  living  men  concerning  whom  more  has  been  said,  and  less 
really  known,  than  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois.  There  are  thousands,  by  far 
too  many  thousands,  now  sustaining  him  under  the  mistaken  and  delusive  idea  that 
he  is  directing  his  efforts  to  counteract  the  plans  of  the  Southern  democracy.  This 
is  a  frightful  hallucination,  but  a  natural  one,  when  we  take  into  consideration  the 
humiliating  fact  that  all  that  devotion  could  do  has  been  done,  by  those  surrounding 
his  person,  to  distort  a  true  record,  and  to  stamp  a  counterfeit  character  for  him  on 
the  public  mind.  Viewing  him  as  one  of  the  most  unsafe  and  treacherous  of  lead- 
ers, you  will  pardon  me  certain  statements  which  it  now  seems  necessary  should  be 
made,  and  the  correctness  of  which,  I  presume,  will  not  be  impugned.  I  have  not 
yet  forgotten  when,  in  the  winter  of  1855-6,  during  the  first  session  of  the  thirty- 


8 

fourth  Congress,  the  residents  of  Kansas,  asseverating  that  the  cardinal  principle  of 
the  Nebraska-Kansas  act  had  been  wantonly  and  wickedly  nullified,  that  fraud  and 
violence,  concocted  in  the  blue-lodges  of  Missouri,  had  invaded  their  homes  and 
imposed  a  foreign  rule  upon  them  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  upon  them  institutions 
which  they  abhorred,  and  invoking  the  interposition  of  Congress  in  their  behalf,  the 
prided  father  of  "  untrammelled  popular  sovereignty  "  turned  his  back  upon  his 
violated  child,  and  closed  his  ears,  as  in  death,  to  complaints  of  outrage  almost  with- 
out a  parallel  in  the  civilization  of  the  century.  These  despoiled  pioneers,  who  had 
taken  up  their  abode  in  the  territory  under  the  most  solemn  guarantees  of  self-gov- 
ernment, only  asked  to  prove  their  accusation,  arid  to  be  relieved  from  oppression. 
In  other  words,  they  declared  they  had  never  been  able  to  enjoy  self-government, 
that  they  were  ruled  by  invaders,  and  demanded  the  sovereignty  conferred  by  law 
upon  them.  Mr.  Douglas  should  have  been  the  first  man  to  fly  to  their  relief ;  and 
if  he  had  been  as  completely  dedicated  to  the  principles  of  his  bill,  as  some  would 
make  us  believe,  he  would  have  urged  investigation  and  carried  it.  So  far  from 
having  done  so,  he  put  himself  in  the  lead  of  those  Senators  most  hostile  to  an 
exposition,  and  became  the  mere  mouth-piece,  advocate,  and  apologist  of  those 
engaged  in  the  work  of  forcing  slavery  upon  an  unwilling  people.  He  enjoyed  at 
that  time  the  full  confidence  of  the  South  and  his  democracy  was  orthodox, — 
because  he  was  loyal  to  his  task-masters  ;  willing  to  do  battle  for  their  most  extrava- 
gant demands.  He  was  then  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  territories,  and  I  call 
attention  to  his  report,  as  such,  made  March  12, 1856,  as  conclusive  upon  the  point 
I  have  stated.  In  that  paper  he  could  find  nothing  to  say  against  foreign  conspira- 
cies to  invade  the  soil  of  Kansas  and  control  elections,  but  he  had  much  to  offer  in 
condemnation  of  eastern  associations  to  encourage  removal  thither.  He  could  dis- 
cover no  irregularities  in  the  return  of  Mr.  Whitfield,  the  pro-slavery  delegate  to 
the  House  of  Representatives,  but  he  clearly  discerned  that  the  territorial  legisla- 
ture was  a  legally-elected  body,  with  perfect  authority  to  enact  the  most  cruel  and 
arbitrary  slave  codes,  and  that  the  complaints  of  fraud  and  force  were  gotten  up 
merely  to  stimulate  and  excite  Northern  emigration.  At  the  time  of  which  1  speak, 
there  was  no  one  in  Congress  or  out  of  Congress,  in  office  or  out  of  office,  who 
exerted  himself  more  untiringly  to  perpetuate  that  reign  of  terror  inaugurated  to 
insure  the  admission  of  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a  slave  state.  I  fear  there  are 
many  now  bearing  up  the  banner  inscribed  with  the  name  of  this  Senator,  who 
never  have  fully  understood,  or  who  have  forgotten  this  tarnished  page  in  his  his- 
tory. If  there  has  ever  been  a  more  determined  foe  to  the  growth  of  freedom  in 
Kansas,  or  to  the  principles  of  the  Nebraska-Kansas  bill  than  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
he  has  been  able  to  keep  himself  very  much  under  cover.  It  is  gratifying,  however, 
to  make  a  single  remark  in  his  favor — it  is  this,  that  he  seems  as  willing  as  the  most 
ardent  of  his  friends  to  divert  attention  from  this  period  in  his  career.  I  am  not 
aware  that,  in  either  essay  or  address,  he  has  ventured  to  recur  to  it ;  but  on  the 
contrary  he  seems  disposed  to  treat  it  as  a  blank  in  his  life. 

Whilst  these  proceedings  were  progressing  in  the  Senate,  the  other  branch  of  Con- 
gress carried  resolutions  of  investigation  under  a  close  division  of  parties,  and  sent 
a  select  committee  to  the  territory.  The  consequence  was.  such  an  exposure  as  sat- 
isfied the  country  not  only  of  the  truth  of  every  thing  charged,  but  of  existing 
conspiracies  beyond  anything  that  had  been  imagined.  The  published  evidence 
effectually  revealed  the  intentions  of  the  South,  and  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
North.  It  was  then  established  that  neither  law  nor  proprieties  were  to  be  allowed 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  slavery  extension  ;  and  we  are  almost  driven  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Restriction  was  but  a  part  of  a  general  and 
well-matured  plan  of  operations,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  the  self-crowned  chief 
of  popular  territorial  government.  Mr.  Douglas'  term  of  office  was  now  approaching 
its  close.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  a  desire  for  re-election,  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
conviction  forced  upon  his  State  by  the  examination  alluded  to,  induced  him  to 
look  with  different  eyes  upon  Kansas,  and  created  an  anxiety  on  his  part  to  take  up 


9 

the  cause  of  her  robbed  and  wretched  people.  I  cannot  certainly  say  how  this  may 
have  been  ;  I  only  state  a  sudden  and  miraculous  change  came  over  him,  and  for  a 
while  he  seemed  to  glory  in  the  name  of  "rebel."  He  opposed  the  admission  of 
Kansas  under  the  L'rnmpton  constitution, with  seeming  seriousness,  and  then  an- 
nounml  his  determination  to  vote  for  the  greater  iniquity,  the  "  English  Bill."  It 
was  then  the  honored  and  heroic  Harris,  who  now  sleeps  in  death,  shed  tears  of 
anguish,  ami  gave  utterance  to  his  despair.  Over  this  again  the  veil  has  been  care- 
fully a:ul  closely  drawn  by  the  guardians  of  Mr.  Douglas' fame.  His  admirers  have 
lu-ti'-d  wisely,  as  it  has  prevented,  doubtless,  many  unpleasant  surmises  and  sugges- 
tions. To  that  boldest,  and  truest,  and  greatest  of  all  the  warriors  in  the  battle 
for  the  right,  David  C.  Broderick,  is  Mr.  Douglas  indebted  for  his  rescue  from  a 
whirlpool  which  would  certainly  have  engulphed  him — from  a  stain  which  would  have 
obliterated  his  heroism  in  connection  with  the  cause  to  which  he  has  so  ostentatiously 
professed  to  devote  himself.  I  withhold  the  words  in  which  the  scathing  rebuke 
was  clothed.  And  yet  this  noblest  and  most  self-sacrificing  of  men,  Mr.  Douglas' 
protector,  the  martyr  to  truth,  who  in  the  fullness  of  his  heart,  and  on  his  dying 
couch  exclaimed,  "  they  have  killed  me,  they  have  murdered  me,  because  I  was 
opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  a  corrupt  administration  " — upon  his  return 
home,  and  in  the  hour  of  his  sternest  trial,  when  fighting,  like  Spartacus,  upon  his 
bended  knees,  against  the  pensioned  hordes  of  the  present  dynasty,  and  at  a  time 
when  he  had  a  right  to  expect  all  possible  aid  from  the  man  whose  interest  he  had 
made  his  own,  found  all  the  sympathies  of  Mr.  Douglas  extended  to  his  opponents, 
and  himself  treated  as  an  enemy  and  an  outcast.  If  we  would  respect  the  memory 
of  Broderick,  we  can  never  support  Douglas ;  it  would  be  a  mark  of  baseness  and 
servility.  If  ever  there  was  a  true  son  of  the  North,  inhumanly  broken  in  spirit, 
and  who  had  reason  to  exclaim,  "  save  me  from  my  friends,"  that  man  was  David 
C.  Broderick.  Had  Stephen  A.  Douglas  but  discharged  the  duty  he  sacredly  owed 
him,  he  would  have  gained  a  victory  for  freedom  in  California,  and  would  to-day,  in 
my  opinion,  be  living  in  the  land,  and  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  foremost  men  in 
the  republic.  He  laid  down  his  life  to  attest  his  sincerity  ;  many  who  professed  to 
love  him,  will,  in  wild  revel  and  reckless  exultation,  utter  the  name  of  him  who 
could  not  find  time  or  opportunity  to  speak  a  word  in  eulogy  over  the  grave  of  the 
departed  votary.  Inscribe  the  name  of  Broderick  in  fiery  characters  upon  your 
banners — he  was  your  champion — and  you  at  least  can  afford  to  do  him  justice. 
He  rests  in  peace  on  the  hights  of  the  proud  city  of  the  Pacific,  where  no  ingrati- 
tude can  longer  wound  him  ;  relieved  from  the  warfare  between  heartless  factions, 
and  where  his  ashes  will  remain  an  eternal  memento  of  his  faith,  and  his  confidence 
in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  a  down-trodden  humanity. 

These  references  have  been  made  for  a  single  purpose — to  satisfy,  if  doubts  exist, 
that  in  the  great  struggle  between  the  South  and  the  North,  to  secure  the  long  lost 
equality  of  the  latter,  Mr.  Douglas  is  against  us.  Should  more  recent  evidences  be 
demanded,  then  let  an  examination  be  made  of  the  Congressional  Globe  containing 
the  ballots  for  Speaker  and  Clerk  during  the  last  session  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. Ascertain  what  the  action  of  the  Illinois,  western,  and  north-western 
Democracy  was  during  the  protracted  contest  for  an  organization.  Every  vote 
that  Mr.  Douglas  could  influence  was  invariably  cast  for  such  candidates  as  the 
South  presented,  including  those  of  the  most  extreme  and  revolutionary  character. 
He  could  afford  no  assistance  to  any  one  not  recognized  by  the  propagandists  as 
orthodox  upon  all  questions  which  concerned  them.  And  I  very  well  remember 
when  the  name  of  Col.  Forney  was  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  office  he  now 
occupies,  and  his  fate  was  to  be  decided,  how  diligently  "  the  great  advocate  of  pop- 
ular sovereignty  "  labored  for  his  defeat ;  every  devotee  of  Mr.  Douglas  voting 
against  him,  with  one  exception.  Mr.  Morris,  of  Illinois,  in  whom  I  have  very 
great  confidence,  declined  to  vote  at  all.  Col.  Forney,  who  never  hesitated  to  ad- 
vance the  fortunes  of  Mr.  Douglas,  when  he  could  properly  do  so,  was  elected  in 
spite  of  Mr.  Douglas.  Col.  Forney,  I  presume,  was  not  endorsed  by  the  Democracy 


10 

who  swear  by  the  peculiar  institution.     Others  may  choose  to  forget  all  this,  and 
will  not  criminate  them  for  doing  so,  but  I  promise  never  to  forget  it.      I  am  fot 
my  friends,  and  against  those  who  oppose  my  friends.     If  I  am  wrong  in  this,  le 
charity  be  extended  to  me — I  cannot  help  it. 

I  have  said  all  I  desire  to  say  of  the  Representatives  of  the  two  Democracies. 
There  is  a  preference  between  them.  The  one  is  out-spoken  and  evident ;  the  other 
is  concealed  and  tricky.  Of  the  two,  I  much  prefer  Mr.  Breckenridge,  and  yet  I 
cannot  imagine  the  circumstances  under  which  I  could  be  induced  to  support  him. 
He  asserts  the  Supreme  Court  has  decided  that  slavery  is  an  existing  constitutional 
institution  in  all  our  territories,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government  to  sus- 
tain it  where  it  thus  legally  exists.  Mr.  Douglas  contends  the  Courts  have  not  yet 
so  decided,  but  if  they  shall  do  so,  it  will  then  become  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens 
to  respect  the  decision,  and  of  every  branch  of  the  federal  government  to  enforce  it 
with  promptness  and  fidelity.  This  is  his  platform.  If  our  Federal  Court  has  not 
already  given  a  decision  in  accordance  with  the  notions  of  Mr.  Breckenridge,  no  one 
doubts  it  will  do  so  as  soon  as  the  question  shall  be  brought  distinctly  before  it. 
So  at  best  the  only  point  of  disagreement  between  these  rival  candidates  is,  that  of 
time  only.  If,  in  the  language  of  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  convention  placing 
Mr.  Douglas  in  nomination,  and  just  partly  quoted,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  all  good 
citizens  to  respect,  and  of  every  branch  of  the  federal  government  to  enforce,  a 
judicial  decision  determining  the  constitutional  existence  of  slavery  in  our  terri- 
tories, what  becomes  of  that  other  theory  of  Mr.  Douglas,  that  no  matter  what  the 
Supreme  Court  may  decide,  slavery  may  be  excluded  from  a  territory  hy  unfriendly 
legislation  ? 

Those  advocating  the  claims  of  Mr.  Bell  would  please  everybody  by  promising 
nothing.  They  compose  the  party  of  extreme  faith.  They  stand  upon  a  Constitu- 
tion without  interpretation,  and  upon  an  endangered  Union  without  announcing  the 
means  by  which  it  can  be  saved. 

Let  us  not  be  deceived !  There  are  but  two  doctrines  between  which  we  can 
choose  when  we  come  to  deposit  our  ballots.  One  is,  that  the  Constitution  favors 
slavery  as  fully  as  freedom  ;  that  neither  has  advantage  over  the  other  ;  that  they 
must  travel  together,  and  exist  together,  under  equal  protection,  until  the  territory 
shall  be  clothed  with  State  sovereignty ;  and  that  both  alike  are  national.  The 
other  is,  that  the  Constitution  treats  slavery  as  a  local  municipal  institution  ;  does 
not  give  to  it  a  single  attribute  of  nationality  ;  that  it  has  not  an  equal  status  with 
freedom  ;  and  that  its  extension  is  to  be  discouraged.  How  shall  we  act  between 
these  opposing  views?  I  answer  the  inquiry  I  Our  laboring  classes  deserve  all  the 
encouragement  and  protection  we  can  give  them  ;  Southern  statesmen  regard  them 
as  white  slaves  ;  let  us  not  surrender  them  to  such  mercies  as  the  owners  of  chattel 
labor  would  extend  to  them.  Our  farmers  and  manufacturers  have  long  been  cut 
off  from  all  the  bounties  of  legislation,  by  the  force  of  Southern  prejudice ;  we 
should  enlist  on  their  side.  Our  country  has  suffered  much  in  the  estimation  of 
mankind,  from  our  manifested  attachment  to  a  system  notoriously  in  contradiction 
to  the  principles  upon  which  our  government  was  founded  ;  considerations  of  moral- 
ity, expediency,  and  consistency  should  incline  us  to  do  all  that  we  lawfully  may  do, 
to  save  ourselves  from  further  imputations.  Slavery  within  the  States  stands 
behind  impregnable  defenses,  but  it  holds  no  charter  to  travel  without  restraint.  It 
has  long  labored  for,  but  has  not  yet  reached,  a  position  of  absolutism.  It  grasps 
for  empire,  as  it  is  the  only  means  by  which  tyranny  can  ever  save  itself.  Our 
danger  is  imminent,  but  we  can  yet  overcome  it,  if  we  allow  reason,  rather  than  preju- 
dice, to  shape  our  efforts.  Democracy,  as  now  interpreted  by  those  loudest  in  the 
profession  of  it,  and  almost  monopolizing  its  name,  no  longer  means  the  will  of  the 
majority  ;  it  contemns  the  masses  ;  holds  no  association  with  labor  ;  and  utters  no 
word  of  encouragement  to  the  poor.  Its  professions  are  impostures,  and  must  soon 
fail  to  deceive.  It  has  become  worse  than  the  ally  of  slavery  ;  it  is  its  pliant  and 


11 

prostituted  tool.  Wisdom  and  propriety  must  alike  repudiate  it,  unless  speedily 
iv«r  -m -rated. 

Our  true  policy  is  that  of  resistance  to  the  extravagant  and  unconstitutional 
demands  of  the  South.  We  can  only  make  it  effectual  in  one  way — by  the  support 
of  Mr.  LINCOLN.  He  is  honest  and  capable,  and  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Con- 
stitution ;  and  his  election  will  assign  limits  to  sectional  oligarchy,  and  make  labor 
honorable  and  remunerative. 

The  question,  in  its  true  aspect,  is  not  as  to  which  candidate  should  be  elected  by 
the  people ;  it  is  this — shall  Mr.  Lincoln  be  elected  ?  The  one  hundred  and  twenty 
electoral  votes  of  the  south  will  be  divided  mainly,  if  not  exclusively,  between  Mr. 
Bell  and  Mr.  Breckenridge,  and  their  support  will  be  almost,  if  not  entirely,  confined 
to  that  section.  Such  effective  force  as  Mr.  Douglas  may  possess,  is  in  the  North ; 
but  his  most  sanguine  friends  admit,  not  only  that  his  election  is  impossible,  but  that  he 
cannot  carry  over  two  or  three  States.  The  body  of  the  Northern  vote  will  be 
given  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Mr.  Douglas'  supporters  can  do  nothing  for  him  ;  the  only 
significant  result  they  can  possibly  produce,  will  be  to  withdraw  enough  strength 
from  Mr.  Lincoln  to  throw  the  election  into  the  House.  This  done,  and  Lane 
would  certainly  be  chosen  by  the  Senate — the  condition  of  parties  in  the  House 
being  such  as  to  prevent  a  majority  of  the  States  agreeing  to  either  of  the  candi- 
dates. Resting  on  these  admissions,  for  they  are  accepted  universally,  we  discover 
that  every  vote  given  to  Mr.  Douglas  must  tend  to  the  elevation  of  Lane,  who,  pos- 
sessing neither  education,  experience,  nor  executive  ability,  has  been  selected  to 
enable  the  South  to  make  the  most  out  of  an  accident,  in  case  it  shall  occur.  To 
out-Lane  Lane  in  apostacy  to  the  North,  and  in  crouching,  fawning  subserviency  to 
the  South,  need  not  be  attempted  by  the  most  ambitious  in  that  line — not  even  by  a 
Federal  office-holder.  Even  if  I  could  believe  that  the  leopard  could  change  his 
spots,  and  Mr.  Douglas  do  the  North  justice,  I  would  not  sustain  him,  under  the 
circumstances  which  surround  us,  and  amid  the  perils  which  now  environ  us. 

1  have  not  attempted  a  speech.  My  purpose  has  been  to  talk  plainly.  I  may 
have  been  unfortunate  in  succeeding  too  well  in  this  respect.  Feeling  as  I  do,  and 
knowing  the  vast  importance  of  the  canvass  upon  which  we  are  just  entering,  I 
could  not  be  less  distinct  in  my  expressions.  Immense,  inappreciable  consequences 
depend  upon  the  decision  we  are  about  to  make.  We  should  tremble  when  we  fear 
that  those  most  interested  in  the  present  and  the  future,  the  frugal  artizan  and 
laborer,  may  fail  to  comprehend  them.  But  let  us  hope,  citizens,  that  we  are  so  far 
right  as  to  be  able  to  expect  the  favor  of  Almighty  God  throughout  our  trials,  and 
that  He  will  continue  to  bless  the  Republic,  until  it  shall  become  a  proper  example 
to  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  a  blessing  to  universal  man ! 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PLATFORM. 


Resolved,  That  we,  the  delegated  representatives  of  the  Republican  electors  of 
the  United  States,  in  Convention  assembled,  in  the  discharge  of  the  duty  we  owe 
to  our  constituents  and  our  country,  unite  in  the  following  declarations  : 

1.  That  the  history  of  the  nation  during  the  last  four  years  fully  establishes  the 
propriety  and  necessity  of  the  organization  and  perpetuation  of  the  Republican 
party  ;  and  that  the  causes  which  called  it  into  existence  are  permanent  in  their 
nature,  and  now,  more  than  ever  before,  demand  its  peaceful  and  constitutional 
triumph. 

2.  That  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  promulgated  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  embodied  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  "  That  all  men  are  created 
equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights  ;  that 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,   and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  ;  that  to  secure  these 
rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed,"  is  essential  to  the  preservation  of  our  Republican  institu- 
tions, and  that  the  Federal  Constitution,  the  Rights  of  the  State,  and  the  Union  of 
the  States,  must  and  shall  be  preserved. 

3.  That  to  the  Union  of  the  States  this  nation  owes  its  unprecedented  increase 
in  population,  its  surprising  development  of  material  resources,  its  rapid  augmenta- 
tion of  wealth,  its  happiness  at  home  and  its  honor  abroad  ;  and  we  hold  in  abhor- 
rence all  schemes   for  disunion,   come  from  whatever  source  they  may ;  and  we 
congratulate  the  country,  that  no  Republican  member  of  Congress  has  uttered  or 
countenanced  the  threats  of  disunion  so  often  made  by  Democratic  members,  with- 
out rebuke  and  with  applause  from  their  political  associates  ;  and  we  denounce 
these  threats  of  disunion,  in  case  of  a  popular  overthrow  of  their  ascendency,  as 
denying  the  vital  principles  of  a  free  Government,  and  as  an  avowal  of  contem- 
plated treason,  which  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of  an  indignant  people  sternly  to  rebuke 
and  forever  silence. 

4.  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  especially  the 
right  of  each  State  to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions  according  to 
its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  jessential  to  that  balance  of  power  on  which  the 
perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  depends ;  and  we  denounce  the  law- 


13 

less  invasion  by  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under 
whatever  pretext,  as  amongst  the  gravest  of  crimes. 

5.  That  the  present  Democratic  Administration  has  far  exceeded  our  worst  appre- 
hensions, in  its  measureless  subserviency  to  the  exactions  of  a  sectional  interest,  as 
esjH-cially  evinced  in  its  desperate  exertions  to  force  the  infamous  Lecompton  Con- 
stitution upon  the  protesting  people  of  Kansas  ;  in  construing  the  personal  relation 
between  master  and  servant  to  involve  an  unqualified  property  in  persons ;  in  its 
attempted  enforcement,  everywhere,  on  land  and  sea,  through  the  intervention  of 
Congress  and  of  the  Federal  Courts,  of  the  extreme  pretensions  of  a  purely  local 
interest ;  and  in  its  general  and  unvarying  abuse  of  the  power  intrusted  to  it  by  a 
confiding  people.  fttnenort 

6.  That  the  people  justly  view  with  alarm  the  reckless  extravagance  which  per- 
vades every  department  of  the  Federal  Government ;  that  a  return  to  rigid  economy 
and  accountability  is  indispensable  to  arrest  the  systematic  plunder  of  the  public 
treasury  by  favored  partisans  ;  while  the  recent  startling  developments  of  fraud  and 
corruption  at  the  Federal  Metropolis,  show  that  an  entire  change  of  administration 
is  imperatively  demanded. 

7.  That  the  new  dogma,  that  the  Constitution,  of  its  own  force,  carries  slavery  into 
any  or  all  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  is  a  dangerous  political  heresy, 
at  variance  with  the  explicit  provisions  of  that  instrument  itself,  with  contempora- 
neous exposition,  and  with  legislative  and  judicial  precedent ;  is  revolutionary  in  its 
tendency,  and  subversive  of  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  country. 

8.  That  the  normal  condition  of  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  is  that 
of  freedom  ;  that  as  our  Republican  fathers,  when  they  abolished  slavery  in  all  our 
national  territory,  ordained  that  "  no  person  should  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law,"  it  becomes  our  duty,  by  legislation,  whenever 
such  legislation  is  necessary,  to  maintain  this  provision  of  the  Constitution  against 
all  attempts  to  violate  it ;  and  we  deny  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  Territorial 
Legislature,  or  of  any  individuals,  to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  Territory 
of  the  United  States. 

9.  That  we  brand  the  recent  re-opening  of  the  African  trade,  under  the  cover  of 
our  national  flag,  aided  by  perversions  of  judicial  power,  as  a  crime  against  human- 
ity, and  a  burning  shame  to  our  country  and  age ;  and  we  call  upon  Congress  to 
take  prompt  and  efficient  measures  for  the  total  and  final  suppression  of  that  execra- 
ble traffic. 

10.  That  in  the  recent  vetoes,  by  their  Federal  Governors,  of  the  acts  of  the 
Legislatures  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  prohibiting  slavery  in  those  Territories,  we 
find  a  practical  illustration  of  the  boasted  Democratic  principles  of  non-interven- 
tion and  popular  sovereignty,  embodied  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  a  demon- 
stration of  the  deception  and  fraud  involved  therein. 

11.  That  Kansas  should,  of  right,  be  immediately  admitted  as  a  State  under  the 
Constitution  recently  formed  and  adopted  by  her  people,  and  accepted  by  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

12.  That,  while  providing  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  General  Government 
by  duties  upon  imports,  sound  policy  requires  such  an  adjustment  of  these  imposts 


14 

as  to  encourage  the  development  of  the  industrial  interests  of  the  whole  country ; 
and  we  commend  that  policy  of  national  exchanges  which  secures  to  the  working- 
men  liberal  wages,  to  agriculture  remunerating  prices,  to  mechanics  and  manufac- 
turers an  adequate  reward  for  their  skill,  labor  and  enterprise,  and  to  the  nation 
commercial  prosperity  and  independence. 

13.  That  we  protest  against  any  sale  or  alienation  to  others  of  the  public  lands 
held  by  actual  settlers,  and  against  any  view  of  the  free  homestead  policy  which 
regards  the  settlers  as  paupers  or  suppliants  for  public  bounty,  and  we  demand  the 
passage  by  Congress  of  the  complete  and  satisfactory  homestead  measure  which 
has  already  passed  the  House. 

14.  That  the  National  Republican  party  is  opposed  to  any  change  in  our 
naturalization  laws,  or  any  State  legislation  by  which  the  rights  of  citizenship 
hitherto  accorded  to  immigrants  from  foreign  lands  shall  be  abridged  or  impaired ; 
and  in  favor  of  giving  a  full  and  efficient  protection  to  the  rights  of  all  classes  of 
citizens,  whether  native  or  naturalized,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

15.  That  the  appropriations  by  Congress  for  River  and  Harbor  Improvements 
of  a  national  character,  required  for  the  accommodation  and  security  of  an  existing 
commerce,  are  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  and  justified  by  the  obligation  of 
Government  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  its  citizens. 

16.  That  a  Railroad  to  the  Pacific  ocean  is  imperatively  demanded  by  the 
interests  of  the  whole  country  ;  that  the  Federal  Government  ought  to  render  imme- 
diate and  efficient  aid  in  its  construction  ;  and  that,  as  preliminary  thereto,  a  daily 
Overland  Mail  should  be  promptly  established. 

17.  Finally,  having  thus  set  forth  our  distinctive  principles  and  views,  we  invite 
the  co-operation  of  all  citizens,  however  differing  on  other  questions,  who  substan- 
tially agree  with  us  in  their  affirmance  and  support. 


FIRST    PREMIUM    AGAIN! 


BEING    THE 


RECEIVED 


R.  H.  VANCE!, 

Corner  of  Montgomery  and  Sacramento  Streets, 


Having  again  received  the  FIRST  PREMIUM  awarded  at  the  State  Fair  for  the 
BEST  AMBROTYPES  and  PHOTOGRAPHS,  it  is  guaranteed  that  all  who 
favor  me  with  a  call  are  sure  to  obtain  better  work  than  can  be  produced  at  any 
other  rooms  in  the  State.  I  would  say  to  my  patrons  that  I  am  now  producing 
better  work  than  ever, 

_A.t    Grreatly    IfcecLuced.    I?:rices5 

to  conform  to  the  times.  Having  reduced  my  prices  more  than  thirty  per  cent.,  no 
one  need  hereafter  go  to  second-rate  establishments,  on  account  of  prices. 

Instructions  given  in  the  Art,  and  Stock  furnished. 

Having  over  320,000  worth  of  Cameras,  Glass,  Plates,  Cases  and  Chemicals  on 
the  way,  I  shall*  hereafter  dispose  of  them  at  about  New  York  Prices. 

"UNCLE  ABE"  IS  'ROUND!!! 


Republican  Songster, 

CONTAINING 

NUMEROUS  IRREPRESSIBLE  SONGS, 

ADAPTED  TO  POPULAR  TUNES, 

And  far  superior  for  general  singing  to  those  contained 
in  the  Eastern  Editions. 

16  pp.—  Six  Dollars  per  Hundred. 

ADDRESS  THE  PUBLISHER,  ROB'T    E.  O.  STEARNS, 

JTo.  125  Clay  Street, 

TERMS,  CASH,  SAN  FEANCISCO 


Kearny  St.,  New  Building,  3d  door  north  of  Clay,  lower  side  of  Plaza. 

GEO.  W.  CHAPIN  &  GO'S 


FIND   EMPLOYMENT  FOR  AND  SUPPLY  ALL  KINDS   OF   HELP, 

JHen  and  Wires  for  Farms,  Hotels  and  Families, 

House  Servants,  Stewards,  Farm  Hands,  Day  Laborers,  Lumbermen,  Machinists,  Cooks, 
Coachmen,  Gardeners,  Laundresses,  Sawyers,  Moulders,  Seamstresses,  Grooms,  Florists, 
Teamsters,  Blacksmiths,  Carpenters,  Boot-makers,  Harness-makers,  Book-keepers,  Teachers, 
Engineers,  Porters,  Miners,  Laborers.  Gas  Fitters,  Clerks,  Salesmen,  Bakers,  Confectioners, 
Shipsmiths,  Locksmiths,  Coppersmiths,  Gunsmiths,  Metal  Turners,  Wood  Turners,  Boiler 
Makers,  Finishers,  Coopers,  Painters,  Sail  Makers,  Marble  Cutters,  Masons,  Bricklayers, 
Plasterers,  Millers,  Brewers,  Jewelers,  Engravers,  Tailors.  Brick  Makers,  Hostlers,  Butchers, 
Dairymen,  et.,  etc.  Chinese  (Jeoks  and  Laborer*  supplied. 


ALSO,  IN  CONNECTION  WITH  THE  ABOVE 

DBST'-A.TES 


RENTING  OF  HOUSES,  STORES,  &c. 

Agents  tor  Purchasing,  Selling  and  Leasing  Farms,  Ranches,  &c. ;  City  Property,  of  every  Description, 

Bought,  Sold,  or  Exchanged;  Bills  Collected,  Money  Loaned  on  Collateral  Security; 

Goods  Bought  on  Commission,  <fcc. 

Parties  in  the   Country  will  please  refer  to  some  Person  in  the  City,  if  possible. 
COUNTRY     ORDERS     I*ROMrTI.Y     ATTEHf  J>  E»     TO. 


PEESIDENTIAL  CAMPAIGN,  1860. 


"LIBERTY  AND  UNION." 


C  1 X*  O  12. 1  €1 1  O     tliO      ID  O  O  "UL  JOOL  O  H.  t  0  2 


The  subscriber  herewith  commences  the  publication  of  a  series  of  Republican 
documents,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Republican  State  Central  Committee,  also 
of  the  Republican  Central  Club  of  San  Francisco,  and  respectfully  solicits  the 
influence  of  every  patriotic  Republican,  to  extend  their  circulation. 

ROB'T   3E2.   C.   STEARNS, 

SAN  FRANCISCO. 

Send  your  orders  to  DR.  RABE,  Secretary  State  Central  Committee,  or  to 
M.  S.  WHITING,  Secretary  Republican  Central  Club,  or  the  PUBLISHER. 

Philadelphia  Speech,  $4  per   hundred;   per  thousand  $3O. 


.X 


